How I Make Credit Card Processing Sales Today

I told Matt Price that I got two sales today. He asked me to tell him how I made the sales and what my sales approach was. Here is my edited reply; thought you might like to hear this. If you are just starting out, your business won’t reach this level for a while. However, I think it is important to understand what you are trying to accomplish.

Matt: “Congrats on those 2 deals. If you wouldn’t mind taking the time, I would like to hear the details of how you obtained them and what kind of sales approach you used.”

James: “Simple… Referrals. One of them I already service his other nine locations. He opened up location number ten. So that was basically just a drive out, meet the guy, and talk about business for 5 fifteen minutes.

The other one was the father of a client who owns an auto shop. These are basically the only sales I have time to make now that I spend most of my time recruiting and doing sales training. I probably get two or three referrals a week on average right now because of the way I have built my personal brand in my market. This is in addition to the leads I get from my marketing.

So far today I have seen six of my clients, two because of these sales and four more just because they happened to be at another business where I was (gas station, Panera Bread, etc.) I always try to look sharp and have business cards with me. We just talk about business, the economy, etc. I give them another card in case they lost mine or in case they want to give it to someone else. Then they always tell me, ‘You should go visit xyz company. I know Bob over there is interested in going with you.’ My personal brand in my local market is crystal clear: I help small business owners save money on their credit card processing services. And I provide local service, meaning I don’t desert you after I get the sale. Everyone knows this is what I stand for, so everyone knows how to talk to me. More importantly, they know how to talk about me to other people within their network. I honestly don’t talk about my current sales numbers very much. I think it would discourage agents who are just starting out or make them think getting sales is easier than it really is. But just about every month I am in the top ten (three months ago I was number three!) out of dozens of great, full time agents. And I probably spend less than three hours per week selling. Someone else does the installs, and our processor does 80% of the customer service. This is a great set-up for me. However, for several years I slogged through sixty hour weeks. I walked into new businesses thirty hours every single week; followed up relentlessly; the rest of the time provided unparalleled customer service, the best prices in my market, and someone to whom other business owners could relate.”

So there you have it. If you ever wonder, “What is James doing today that is making him so many sales?” The answer is really more about what I did the first two years in the business.

1. I didn’t give up, and I didn’t dilute my personal brand by selling everything to everyone. I became a specialist.
2. I relentlessly presented my message and values to business owners face to face all over my market. I also followed up with these owners again and again until they realized I meant business and wasn’t going anywhere.
3. I made sure I always looked the part of the local business owner that I am. And I looked for (rather than avoided) contact with my current clients. I wanted to establish long lasting, solid relationships built on trust and mutual benefit. Have a great day in the field today and start building your personal brand!!!! If you can survive this business for a couple years while doing the right things consistently, you can really build a successful business!

James Shepherd

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